Private MRI/CT scan.

Plus if doctors do not know what they are looking for, how the heck are they going to find anything really?

Just going off my own experiences (shoulder which is a small part of the body) required a contrast media to be injected and a 40 minute scan on this small area when they actually KNEW there was a problem and where it was... If there is nothing wrong, really what is the point?
 
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2009/12December/Pages/CT-scans-and-cancer-risk.aspx

"It was estimated that one in 270 women who had CT coronary angiography (a fairly high-radiation-dose scan of the heart blood vessels) at the age of 40 would develop additional cancers from that CT scan (one in 600 men) compared with an estimated one in 8,100 extra women who had a routine CT scan of the head (one in 11,080 men). Risk for developing cancer in later life was higher for a person scanned at a young age, and lower for a person scanned at 60 years."
 
Energize said:
Uneeded CT scans are not a good idea due to the radiation exposure.
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This Rod (Knob) Stewart used to have a whole body CT each year as a precaution, to 'check' for things, and was delighted when it found his thyroid cancer......... which the whole process may or may not have caused.

Knob.

Head CT for precaution.... needs psychotherapy not radiation! Head MRIs, unsure how well these show due to skull density.
 
OP > In a lot of cases, you can't "just" get treatment at private hospitals - you generally need a referral from you GP before you can see a consultant privately.

I'm unsure what the situation is with scans, but I'd hazard a guess it might be the same.

If I get chance, I'll ask mum later - she works in the bookings office in a private hospital.
 
CT scans bombard the body with an enormous amount of radiation - any creditable doctor will confirm that, in the absence of a genuine medical indication, you should avoid it.
MRIs are safe (unless you have lots of metal in your body) but then you run the risk of "incidentalomas".
Oops - don't forget the risk of renal (kidney) damage from the contrast medium.

I'm guessing your friend wants a private scan because her regular doc doesn't think she actually needs one?
Perhaps she needs a little counselling?
 
I've put myself forward for several studies which would involved me getting an MRI of my brain, obviously helping with their research and above any compensation getting me a picture of my brain, entirely out of interest reaelly, but obv i'd never just get one for the hell of it.
 
simulatorman said:
You wouldn't if they found an inoperable tumour. :p
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It's the old debate, would you want to know you were going to die?

but fniding an inoperable tumour by mere chance I think would be a bit of a blessing, give life more meaning, make the most of the last few years/weeks/months etc
 
mac1st3 said:
It's the old debate, would you want to know you were going to die?

but fniding an inoperable tumour by mere chance I think would be a bit of a blessing, give life more meaning, make the most of the last few years/weeks/months etc
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Operable or inoperable, I would rather find out this way then at the last moment.
 
mac1st3 said:
It's the old debate, would you want to know you were going to die?
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... or more likely, a benign incidental finding - that would lead to weeks / months of further tests (maybe even a brain biopsy) and endless worry for you and your family...

The human body manages to function despite numerous "minor" anatomical imperfections - thats why unwarranted scans are a bad idea...
 
simulatorman said:
Operable or inoperable, I would rather find out this way then at the last moment.
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bazaarboy said:
... or more likely, a benign incidental finding - that would lead to weeks / months of further tests (maybe even a brain biopsy) and endless worry for you and your family...

The human body manages to function despite numerous "minor" anatomical imperfections - thats why unwarranted scans are a bad idea...
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Personally I'd rather find out as soon as possible, if it's operable, then you'll have caught it early on enough to make a difference hopefully.

and if it's inoperable, then it'd be better to know early so that I could get affairs in order, talk to the people I needed to, do the things I wanted before it's too late.

Finding out you've only got a month left cause it's too far gone would be the worst thing for me personally
 
Mr. Anderson said:
Dr. House says body scans are a waste of time.
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It's true though?
Shes a fool if you ask me, if you feel fine, then you're probably fine, if you don't feel fine, go to the doctors if you think it justifies medical attention.
But don't go looking for problems in your own body, she may need help if she's that much of a hypochondriac.
 
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mac1st3 said:
Personally I'd rather find out as soon as possible, if it's operable, then you'll have caught it early on enough to make a difference hopefully...
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I think what you are alluding to is screening. Opportunistic screening for brain tumours with MRIs scans is very cost inefficient, given how incredibly rare they are. Look up the the internationally accepted WHO criteria for screening - but generally a condition has to be serious / common enough, there must be an early latent phase (a brain tumour big enough to see on a scan is already too big) and there must be an effective and acceptable treatment.

On the other hand, a simple assessment + physical by your GP will almost definitely rule out the possibility of a brain tumour...
 
I'd say the biggest worry with unindicated scanning of unsymptomatic people - wherever you are scanning, but particularly the brain - is what if the scan showed a tumour. That tumour is operable, but you aren't getting symptoms.

What do you do? Get it removed??

What if during the operation the surgeon has to, as is often the case, remove a fair amount of surrounding tissues. What if that tissue happens to be the part that controls speech/sight/etc? What if the biopsy of the tumour shows entirely benign tissue, which would not have grown or ever caused problems?

What if you now have a presviously healthy person requiring 24hr care, with absoloutely zero quality of life?
 
Your friend should not get a CT scan unless she really needs it.
To give you an idea one chest CT is around 10 millisieverts of radiation (that is only the chest and not a full body) and a traditional chest X-ray only 0.02 millisieverts.
However if she wants an MRI that is fine as there is no radiation, they can be a little expensive. I would assume around 2k including getting a consultant to look over it.
You can have them done privately in India for around 50 quid or around 200 quid in Czech Republic
 
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